Hunger Pangs

 

 

Scripture

 Psalm 81:8-10

⁸ Hear, O my people, while I admonish you;
    O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
⁹ There shall be no strange god among you;
    you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
¹⁰ I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.  (NRSVUE)

 

John 6:32-35  

³² Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” ³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  

 

Devotion

Hunger.  It gnaws at us.  And no matter how many times we try to fill that empty place inside us, it always comes back. 

Physical hunger is a shared human experience..  We also share metaphorical hungers beyond our body's ache for food.  Our hearts hunger for love.  Our minds hunger for knowledge.  Our souls hunger for safety, protection, and a promise that things will be okay. 

To yearn for these kinds of things isn't bad; they are what sustain us through life and help us build a thriving world.  The problem is that we often try to assuage our hunger for good things in bad ways.  Like a child who wants to eat candy for dinner, we gobble up things we think will satisfy us.  We seek love in unhealthy relationships.  We fill our minds with the wrong kinds of knowledge.  We confuse safety and security with the the accumulation of wealth, materials, or powers...or with our ability to hurt others before they can hurt us.  All these things "taste good" at first, but they are empty of true sustenance.  And just as a child who stuffed themselves with empty calories will feel hunger gnawing at them only a few hours later, so we go back to yearning for the things we thought we had already found.

Scripture reminds us that it doesn't have to be this way.  God is ready to feed our hungry souls--just as God physically fed the people during the Exodus and Jesus fed the crowds during his ministry.  In both cases, God did not give the people tempting yet ultimately empty sweets.  No, the people ate good food--food that lasts.   

 If can resist the temptation to partake of the "sweet treats" that life offers and come to Jesus for our meals, the Holy Spirit will fill our plates with good things.  Then, when we trust God enough to open our "mouths," take those blessings into ourselves, and making them part of our lives, all those hungry places within us become filled with a spiritual nourishment that is far more sustaining than anything we could have imagined.  It is that sustenance that helps bring forth healthy relationships, true wisdom, and the mutual care and support that can protect us during our times of need.

So the next time we find ourselves tempted to fill our lives with something that we know isn't good for us, let's turn inward and ask "what is it that I hunger for?  And how can Christ help fill that hunger in ways that won't leave me even more famished in just a little while?"  Then, let us seek out that true, nourishing spiritual bread that Jesus offers us.  And when we find it, let us trust God enough to open wide our mouths so that we may be filled.

 

 

 

Prayer

 Jesus, I come to you yearning for so many things.  Teach me your ways as you fill my famished soul.  May I accept your blessings and trust in you, so that I may hunger no more.